Insect swatter



Deca mi, 95 A, P, FRST 2,578,183

INSECT SWATTER Filed June 13, 1949 INVENTOR. Amm EFrs Patented Dec. 11, 14951 UNITEDV STATES IPATEN'I oFFlcEy INSECT SWATTER Anna P. Frst, Chicago, Ill.

Application June 13, 1949, Serial No. 978,725

1` Claim. (Cl. 43-137) l My invention relates to readily actuated ily swatters.

The fly destroying or insect killing instrument known as the fly swatter is constructed of a striking head attached to a handle. Fly swatters in present use are constructed with a flexible head and a rigid handle, making it necessary for the user to move the arm and hand in the act of striking at a ily. This movement of the hand and arm warns the ily, permitting it to escape. Therefore, it is a prime object of my invention to provide a readily actuated fly swatter wherein the handle means is constructed of resilient material so that the striking head may be actuated to strike and kill insects, such as ies, merely by action of the fingers or, at the most, the wrist of the hand holding the ily swatter, thus giving no advance warning to the resting insect.

Afurther' object of my invention is to provide a ily swatter of the above described character which is of simple and attractive design and which may be economically produced in quan titles.

Other objects and advantages embraced in my invention will be disclosed in the following description and the accompanying illustrations, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my invention, with parts cut and broken away to show its construction.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my invention shown in solid and phantom lines in the act of striking an insect.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of my invention, taken substantially on line 3-3 on Fig. 1, and showing the resilient handle construction.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of my invention taken substantially'. on line 4-4 on Fig. 1 and showing the attachment of the handle to the flexible head of my invention.

Referring to the illustrations, my invention is generally designated 5 and consists of a flexible head means 6 of substantially rhombic configuration and resilient handle means 1. The flexible headvmeans 6 consists of a striking panel 8, a reinforcing panel 9 and an intermediate reinforcing panel IU, stitched together along the edges at I6. 51;; The said flexible head means 6 may preferably baconstructed of a flexible material, auch asiplastip and may be flared at the end to give'lgr'eater striking surface. The edges 2|, of flexible head 6, may be notched or pinked, as shown, to prevent wrinkling or warping of the said edges and to add tothe life of thestriking@ head. A strengthening patch I1 made of `flexible.:

material may be stitched at 22 to the base oi' flexible head V6 to give greater strength at the handle attaching portion. The striking panel 8 will be fiat as shown in Fig. 4 to make a positive contact with the insect.

The said resilient handle means 'I consists of handle covering strips II and I2 of flexible material, which are stitched together along the edges I5. Two resilient flat spring elements I3 are inserted between handle covering strips II and I2 made of flexible material of' greater width than the said fiat spring elements to cover the same, and of greater length to form a flexible hanging loop portion I4. The stitches along the edges I5 serve to connect resilient handle means 'I to flexible head means 6. A hanging loop portion I4 is formed on the free end of handle means 'I.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the resilient fiat spring elements I3 extend into head portion E, thus providing reenforcement to the lower portion of head 6.

In using my readily actuated fly swatter, it is grasped as by hand I 8 in Fig. 2, at the lower portion of handle 'I with the fly swatter 5 in a vertical position and the head 6 thereof aligned with the resting insect I9. A slight downward flick, aided by gravity, will cause the flexible head means 'I to fly sharply downwardly to strike the insect I9, shown on surface 20.

The important feature of the fly swatting operation just described resides in the fact that the arm and hand holding the fly swatter did not move, as would have been the case had the handle been of rigid material. Since the hand and arm remain stationary, no warning is given to the resting insect. This is a most important feature, inasmuch as the great difculty in destroying insects, such as house flies, by using fly swatters, is that the insect is warned by arm movement and escapesbefore being swatted. The hereinabove described feature of my invention making the no warning strike operation possible, resides in the resilient construction of its handle means.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claim.

Having-thus disclosed and revealed my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

Readily actuated fly-swatter means, comprising flexible head means substantially of rhombic configuration and made up of a multiplicity of panels of plastic material, resilient handle elements of a length equivalent to several times the length of the said head means and of uniform width throughout their length, handle covering strips of exible material of greater length than the said handle elements to form a flexible hanging loop iportion, beyond onev end of the said resilient handle elements, the said -handle covering elements being of greater Width than the said resilient handle elements to permit securing the same to form an enclosing sheath for the said resilient handle elements, one ndyof. the said enclosure sheath being interposed between the said panels and entering partiallythe 'said flexible head means at a cornerptheleof, and

stitching means for securing the enclosing sheath and the said multiplicity of panels resulting in resilient handle means Vsecured to exible head means adapted tofurnish efficient insect swat4 ting'actionfby the sadfhead means.

ANNA P.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain 1888 

